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reCan an EU country simply close its borders to protect itself against Covid-19? Hungary announced this on Sunday, for all member states without exception. Many in Brussels saw the step as excessive, but Budapest was formally on the right: states can restrict freedom of movement with reference to a pandemic. Almost everyone had done that in the spring. However, what Hungary put into effect on Tuesday is not allowed: general entry bans, from which the other states of Visegrád, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are excluded. Therefore, the EU Commission only took a few hours to intervene.
Thomas gutschker
Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and Benelux countries based in Brussels.
The Minister of Justice, Didier Reynders, and the Commissioner of the Interior, Ylva Johansson, sent a letter to the Hungarian government, the content of which they announced in advance. Budapest will be “reminded of the importance of the Schengen area and the non-discriminatory application of border measures to all EU citizens and residents,” Reynders said on Twitter. “All measures that are not compatible with these fundamental principles of EU law should, of course, be withdrawn immediately.”
Each country has different guidelines
The same thing happened in March when the pandemic began. At that time, Slovakia closed its borders to all other EU citizens except Poland. There have been several cases of this type; the Commission was overtaken by events. This should not be repeated, hence the quick and sharp reaction on Tuesday. Furthermore, a spokesperson announced that a proposal was being prepared for the Council so that Member States could better coordinate their actions against the spread of the virus. This is what the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, decided on Monday. The measure has been coordinated with the German Council Presidency, which prepared its own discussion document, which the EU ambassadors will debate on Wednesday.
Name five “set screws” that need to be turned to counteract a “piecemeal approach” like in the spring and to minimize interference in the Schengen area. Coordinate better and act with precision – that’s the motto, the opposite of the Hungarian approach. States must agree on a common database and common criteria to identify risk areas. Almost all countries currently have their own traffic light system.
It would be obvious if everyone was guided by the requirements of the EU infection control authority. For each region of the Member States, it shows how many of the 100,000 inhabitants tested positive in 14 days. Regions are shown in yellow, orange, or red above a certain threshold. The authority notes, of course, that the reported values depend on the testing rate and testing strategy in the country in question and therefore cannot be easily compared. This is due to complaints from Luxembourg, which tested more intensively than any other EU country and was suddenly found to be a high-risk country. Since then, the numbers have dropped. But the case shows the limits of a purely quantitative consideration.
The German document also suggests a common framework for travelers from risk areas. Here too there are as many standards as there are Member States. The mandatory quarantine can last 10 or 14 days; a negative test should not be more than 48 or 72 hours old; sometimes you can do it yourself in the country of entry, often not. Germany itself is anything but a role model. Each state has its own regulations, and the government just decided to replace mandatory testing with a general quarantine requirement in mid-September.
In the Belgian capital, Brussels, you can feel the arbitrariness of some regulations. Germany issued a travel advisory in late August, placing a heavy burden on the functioning of the EU institutions. Anyone entering from there must have a negative test. France, on the other hand, did not impose any restrictions; not even after Belgium classified the Paris capital region as a risk zone. Other countries such as Denmark or Finland, on the other hand, have not only stopped the entries from Brussels (and Antwerp), but from all over Belgium.
